Hygiene as individual practice and as an instrument of the state

Abstract

This study outlines some understandings of the word "hygiene.” The notion that originated in ancient Greece first began to be adopted as a system of diet and morals to prolong the lifespan. From a type of self-care, this idea transformed into a concept of governance to extend the lives of subject-citizens. The theoretical debate about what public hygiene used to be shows its eminently political side: not only was hygiene a branch of the political economy, the ideas of hygienists were also analyzed as to the degree of impact they had on policy. After political and scientific battles, certain understandings of government action emerged victorious, while others were forgotten and neglected.